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The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (Album of the Day)
Friday, October 9, 2015
Ministry's dark and intense fusion of industrial and metal musics reached a peak on THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO TASTE. The title, cover art and even the samples (from such films as Full Metal Jacket, Prince of Darkness and Hellraiser II) in these nine tracks show a band out for blood, but the 1989 Sire collection is as rewarding as it is challenging. Frontman Al Jourgensen and partner-in-crime Paul Barker have come up with buzzing guitar riffs, piledriver rhythms and menacing vocals to frame sinister songs of political, cultural, environmental and personal collapse. As today is Al Jourgensen's birthday, we'll give you a piece of the Ministry man's mind with the inventive and influential THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO TASTE.
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Drift And Dream (Album of the Day)
Thursday, October 8, 2015
The Drifters hit the chart more than 30 times between 1956 and 1966, ensuring their place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with such classics as “There Goes My Baby,” “Save The Last Dance For Me” and “Up On The Roof.” The vocal group's success did much to buoy the fortunes of Atlantic Records, so it's natural that when the label celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007, one of its commemorative releases would spotlight The Drifters. The 60-track digital compilation DRIFT AND DREAM features all but 5 of the group's many pop-charting singles, with generous selections from their key line-ups including lead singers Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King. The Drifters' Doc Green was born on this day in 1934, and we'll mark the occasion by cuing up the comprehensive DRIFT AND DREAM.
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Nighthawks At The Diner (Album of the Day)
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Painter Edward Hopper's “Nighthawks” helped inspire Tom Waits' third release, NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER. Like the famous painting, the 1975 Asylum collection is peopled by offbeat characters who've seen their share of ups and downs, and to get up close and personal with them, Waits and producer Bones Howe cut the double album live at Los Angeles' Record Plant studio in front of an invited audience. The gravel-voiced troubadour sounds as though he knows all about "Warm Beer and Cold Women," to quote but one of these songs, and the worldly wise lyrics are elevated by a superb jazz backing band (and leavened by Waits' amusing between-songs patter). NIGHTHAWKS AT THE DINER celebrates its 40th anniversary today, and it remains a great album to spin when solitary rumination keeps you from sleep.
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Tim (Album of the Day)
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
The Replacements' swan song for Twin Tone Records had made the Minneapolis quartet heroes of the American indie scene; graduating to major-label status with 1985's TIM, the band benefited from bigger budgets without surrendering any of their anarchic spirit. Having Tommy Ramone as producer surely helped in this regard, but even more important to the success of the album – named by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 greatest of all time – was Paul Westerberg's continuing growth as a songwriter. “Kiss Me On The Bus,” “Bastards Of Young” and “Here Comes A Regular” evoke romantic abandon, generational anger and late-night loneliness with rare nuance, and the band rises to equal heights with powerful performances. To celebrate bassist Tommy Stinson's birthday, we'll turn the dial to the left and give TIM another listen.
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Jeff Beck, Live + (Album of the Day)
Monday, October 5, 2015
Jeff Beck shows he continues to push the envelope of musical innovation with LIVE +. The latest release from the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, LIVE + samples concerts from last year's hugely successful double-bill tour with ZZ TOP. Backed by vocalist Jimmy Hall, bassist Rhonda Smith, drummer Jonathan Joseph and guitarist Nicolas Meier. Beck dives deep into his five-decade-strong catalog to come up with 14 spellbinding live performances, including TRUTH's “Morning Dew,” “Superstition” “Hammerhead” and a terrific cover of “A Day In The Life.” The “plus” in the title refers to a pair of aggressive new studio recordings, “Tribal” and “My Tiled White Floor,” which show a stark departure from the sound of the legendary axeman's Grammy®-winning 2010 collection, EMOTION & COMMOTION.
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Spurts: The Richard Hell Story (Album of the Day)
Friday, October 2, 2015
Richard Hell's punk credentials are hard to top: as a founding member of Television, he helped bring the new music to New York City's legendary CBGB club before forming The Heartbreakers with axeman Johnny Thunders, and eventually The Voidoids with guitarist Robert Quine. With a recording career that's been as sporadic as it's been influential, SPURTS: THE RICHARD HELL STORY is the ideal way to sample the man's music. The 21 tracks on the 2005 Rhino collection include cuts from all three above-mentioned bands, as well as pre-Television group The Neon Boys and 1990s supergroup Dim Stars (featuring half of Sonic Youth), and no self-respecting alternative rock fan should be without such seminal sides as “Blank Generation,” “Chinese Rocks” and “Love Comes In Spurts.” The singer-songwriter was born on this day in 1949, and we'll celebrate the birthday with another spin of SPURTS: THE RICHARD HELL STORY.
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Curtis (Album of the Day)
Thursday, October 1, 2015
As a founder of The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield played a key role in the development of soul in the 1960s, infusing the trio's music with spirituality and a social conscience. The singer-songwriter left The Impressions for a solo career in 1970, and his self-produced debut (released on his own Curtom Records label) boasts the same social awareness as his previous group while traversing tougher musical territory. Cut in Chicago, CURTIS serves up simmering funk and psychedelia on eight originals, including epic side openers "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" and "Move On Up." Seen through the eyes of one of R&B's greatest poets, CURTIS offered a look at the state of black America during the Nixon years – though its compassion for all people makes the album timeless.
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A Picture of Nectar (Album of the Day)
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
One of the greatest jam bands of all time, Phish cut their musical teeth during mid-1980s live engagements at Nectar's in Burlington Vermont, so it was only fitting that the quartet's major label debut pay tribute to the venue and its owner, Nector Rorris. The 1992 Elektra album A PICTURE OF NECTAR reflects both the eclecticism and instrumental interplay that have made the band's concerts legendary – the 14 tracks here touch on a dizzying variety of styles, including jazz, bluegrass, Latin, rock and funk, all fused into an organic whole (with off-the-wall lyrics guaranteed to put a smile on your face). The collection features some of the extended improvisation for which the group is famous, but it's also focused and accessible, making A PICTURE OF NECTAR a good one for Phish newbies to catch ... and an ideal way to celebrate singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio's birthday today.
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Kickin' It Up (Album of the Day)
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Country hitmaker John Michael Montgomery kicked his career up a notch with his second album, KICKIN' IT UP; the 1994 collection went quadruple-platinum, besting its predecessor by a million sales or so. Its ten tracks include four Country Top 10s: “Be My Baby Tonight,” “Rope the Moon,” “If You've Got Love” and “I Swear,” which became a pop chart-topper by vocal group All-4-One a year later. Balancing heartfelt ballads with more energetic country-rock, the album has something for everyone, and quickly shot to the top of the Billboard 200. While John Michael Montgomery's domination of the charts wouldn't end with KICKIN' IT UP, the set remains among the Kentucky native's very best.
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Fireball (Album of the Day)
Friday, September 25, 2015
Deep Purple's Ian Gillan once noted of FIREBALL that "... I thought, from a writing point of view, it was really the beginning of tremendous possibilities of expression. And some of the tracks on that album are really, really inventive.” We're hard-pressed to argue with the singer; the second studio album by the British band's classic “Mark II” lineup of Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice was an outstanding hard rocker like its predecessor, IN ROCK. Along with the title track, the set includes the single “Strange Kind Of Woman” and the storming instrumental “The Mule.” The self-produced collection topped the U.K. album chart on this day in 1971 – it was the first of three consecutive No.1s for the quintet. Strutting their stuff and stretching their sound on seven blazing originals, FIREBALL shows Deep Purple at its very best.
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